Moody's Corporation: Issuance Pull Forward Fuels Solid Beat, No Raise

Research evidence excerpt

Moody's Corporation: Issuance Pull Forward Fuels Solid Beat, No Raise

Deutsche Bank

Research

Rating Company Date

Buy Moody's 22 July 2026

Results

North America Corporation

United States

Reuters Bloomberg Exchange Ticker Price at 22 Jul 2026 (USD) 489.70

MCO.N MCO US NYS MCO

Price Target 594.00

Industrials

52-week range 539.61 - 6.14

Business & Industrial Services

Issuance Pull Forward Fuels Solid Beat,

Valuation & Risks No Raise

Faiza Alwy

Key takeaways from 2Q26 results Research Analyst

MCO 2Q26 results were well ahead of our estimates with revenue beat of ~4%, +1-212-250-7611

operating income beat of 7.4%, and margin beat of ~170 bps. MIS in the quarter

Avi Sharma

was particularly strong with revenue beat of 7.6% versus our expectations due to Research Associate

strong data center related issuance and some pull forward. Given the solid +1-212-250-7226

issuance, the company raised its rated issuance outlook from +LSD to +MSD. The

Sophie Sheng

company, however, maintained its MIS revenue outlook at +HSD due to

Research Associate

unfavorable mix. The company noted that the increased issuance forecast is

+1-212-250-9954

concentrated in PPIF (driven by more data center activity) and frequent banking

issuers, leading to lower average revenue yields. The company expects potential

Key changes

MIS revenue upside from a sustained pickup in M&A activity, higher than expected

587.00 to

hyperscaler and data center issuance in 2H, and a potential rate cut, that could TP 594.00 ↑ 1.2%

trigger some incremental opportunistic refinancing. EPS (USD) - ↓ -0.0%

Revenue (USDm) 8,221 to 8,253 ↑ 0.4%

MA organic ARR was strong in the quarter, growing 8.6%. The company expects

Source: Deutsche Bank

MA OCC and ARR growth to be +HSD driven by solid demand and a strong pipeline.